Hendrawan, Budi advance to semis in Thailand Open

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian men's singles shuttlers put in extraordinary performances against their young Chinese opponents Friday and cleared their way to the semifinals of the three-star Thailand Open in Bangkok.

Hendrawan, world number 13, overcame Chen Hong 15-8, 15-17, 15-6 to meet Lee Hyun-il of South Korea, who upset world number 15 Fung Permadi of China Taipei.

Coach Agus Dwi Santoso said in a telephone interview that Hendrawan played very aggressively in the first set to control the match.

"But in the second set, he changed his strategy by playing defensively but the Chinese's offense was very dangerous and Hendrawan was forced to concede the set."

"Luckily, in the third set Hendrawan managed to regain his self-confidence before finally snatching victory."

Speaking on Hendrawan's chances against Lee, Agus said the 28- year-old Indonesian must be very careful as the two players have never met.

"Hendrawan has a good chance but we all know how tough Lee is. He's still young and he was able to beat Fung, I believe he's got the confidence and motivation to reach the final."

Budi, whose world ranking has dropped to 33, unexpectedly upset All England winner Xia Xuanze, who is world number five, to win 12-15, 15-5, 15-6.

"Budi played amazingly well today. His netting was very neat and he had the initiative to attack Xia, who seemed to play under pressure and was unable to take control of the match," Agus said.

Budi will face Chinese world number 11 Luo Yigang.

"Budi's last meeting against Luo was in the 1998 Grand Prix Finals at the Senayan Indoor Stadium when he lost. I hope he can play as well as he did today," Agus said.

Men's doubles Sigit Budiarto and Halim Heryanto hardly paused to catch breath in overwhelming Quinten Van Dalm and Dennis Lens 15-3, 15-4.

Unfortunately, none of Indonesian women's doubles managed to reach the semifinals.

World number 10 combination Etty Tantri and Cynthia Tuwankotta had to bow out to second seeded and world number two pairing Huang Nanyan and Yang Wei of China 11-15, 12-15.

"The match was tough. It's such a pity that our doubles spoiled their chances at the critical moments," coach Imelda Wigoeno said.

The new partnership of Deyana Lomban and Carmelita also bowed out to the Chinese world number one pairing of Ge Fei and Gu Jun 9-15, 4-15 while Emma Ermawati and Upi Chrisnasari were defeated by Dutch pair Lotte Jonathans and Nicole van Hooren 3-15, 7-15. (yan)